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Talk:Maxine Caulfield/@comment-27023843-20170907224554/@comment-31372623-20170916150619
I was actually having this discussion quite recently with a guy who identifies as asexual (or Ace, as he likes to refer to himself). We were just discussing that we didn't see Max as a girl who is particularly concerned about sexual attraction and hasn't figured out *what* she is yet, and may possibly never have experienced a sexual attraction to anyone... at least, not yet. (Or not until she bumped into the uber cool, older Chloe, anyways, haha!) Max is pretty shy and awkward about receiving Warren's attention, and other students dropping hints or commenting about his attentions toward her only makes this worse for her (seemed common knowledge and typical high-school hot gossip); but Max also experiences confusion around the "new and improved(?) Chloe", as little notes in her journal seem to suggest. Interestingly, she makes off-handed comments about knowing that Warren would blow up her phone as soon as she gave him her number, and even if you accept his drive-in invitation, she will write in her journal: "I did say I would go to the drive-in with him. Hope he doesn't make a lame move on me...", then she goes on to say that they "have a lot in common, but he's like a supercool geek brother". (Bearing in mind this is the morning after she had hooked up with Chloe for the first time in five years, so it can be argued that anything that could have naturally developed with Warren has now taken a massive backseat to her best friend being back in her life.) The other option I can see is that Max is demisexual. I personally feel that this label would strongly suit Max: "A '''demisexual''' is a person who does not experience sexual attraction unless they form a strong emotional connection with someone. It's more commonly seen in but by no means confined to romantic relationships. The term demisexual comes from the orientation being "halfway between" sexual and asexual. Nevertheless, this term does not mean that demisexuals have an incomplete or half-sexuality, nor does it mean that sexual attraction without emotional connection is required for a complete sexuality. In general, demisexuals are not sexually attracted to anyone of any gender; however, when a demisexual is emotionally connected to someone else (whether the feelings are romantic love or deep friendship), the demisexual experiences sexual attraction and desire, but only towards the specific partner or partners." Source: http://wiki.asexuality.org/Demisexual I definitely see a demisexual side to Max where Chloe is concerned, as they have that strong emotional connection to each other. (This is if you choose the romance path, of course. But even if you don't, there are strong signs in her journal that she is at least confused about her feelings for Chloe.) So, I guess my conclusions are that I see Max as open-minded and accepting of all sexualities but too shy and socially awkward to have explored who she is yet in that sense, and I don't think it's been much of a priority. She's quite poetic and a deep thinker, so I see her as somebody who wants to fall madly in love... somebody who wants a best friend and soulmate. She gets embarassed very easily (or brushes it off as a joke) when sex is mentioned. Interestingly, when Warren made a sex joke to her, she brushed it off with aplomb; when Alternative Timeline Chloe made a sex joke to her in Episode 4 (when Max asked her if she needs anything else and Chloe responds, "Well, hot monkey sex would be nice"), Max blushed like crazy (as noticed by Chloe). I think the strong emotional connection needs to be there for Max. As far as I could see in Life is Strange: Season 1, only Chloe fit that criteria. :)